The Donkeys

About our beautiful donkeys...

In September 2008 the Flicka Foundation 'officially' became a horse and donkey sanctuary, with the arrival of five rescued Romanian donkeys. Having been a sanctuary for horses and many other animals since 1995, we could never have imagined how these first five would increase to over 70 in just a few years...!The first 5 donkeys to arrive at Flicka were in appalling condition and had experienced the most harrowing journey in the back of a filthy lorry. Amongst them was a mother with a foal at foot - these two (who would soon become known as Marybelle and Snowberry) were in the worst condition; extremely emaciated, dehydrated and covered in sores with overgrown feet… Marybelle had a suspected dental abscess, their coats were full of lice and they required treatment for lung worm and fluke. Snowberry, the foal, could not even walk properly and his leg was becoming deformed due to his untreated feet.

​The photos below show the first five arriving - sad, dejected and not knowing what was to become of them.This is what we noted at the time: "Untreated hooves have led to deformed feet and walking is difficult. A couple of the donkeys have particularly sloping pasterns, not weight bearing animals at all. Their backs show long-term damage from heavy ladens and their knees are scarred, probably from falling over. One 'aged' donkey has old wounds all over her body."

A few days later we learned of another jennie who had slipped through the net... ​A beautiful gentle donkey (soon to be named Primrose) arrived, very sad and dejected, covered in wounds and lice - she also had deformed back legs.

Primrose enjoyed 8 wonderful years of retirement at the sanctuary and we were devastated when her time came to leave us in September 2016... Dearest Primrose you epitomised what Flicka is all about, you bore years of pain and suffering, you came to us broken, but you fought and wanted to live when you found ‘Lonely'. We have loved, and love, you so much and are privileged to have had you in our lives. Good night beautiful lady, sleep tight. The Rainbow Bridge is waiting. xxx

Another Six Donkeys arrive in October 2010...

The week commencing the 11th October 2010 was a very eventful, stressful and a tenuous time here at Flicka...​"We had to secure the safety of three jennies and their young foals, all in very poor state. Six donkeys arrived, thin, malnourished and frightened... obviously traumatised by months of transport and rough handling – they went straight into our quarantine barn that had been prepared for them. All huddled into a corner and waited for their next ordeal - finally they started to eat the haylage we gave them. The ‘brown’ jennie stood in the corner with her eyes shut; one or two of the foals eventually lay down. It was a very sad sight to see them so timid, worried and exhausted. The mothers were very thin and tired, despite their poor state they are still feeding their young. One of the mothers had breathing issues, our vet carried out various tests, some had difficulty eating and one of the foals was not feeding which gave us cause for concern."

Unbelievably two of the mothers, with foals at foot, were pregnant again - two beautiful little donkey packages that arrived eight and ten months later.

Seven more donkeys are rescued in September 2011...

A Rescue Op That Just Got Bigger...

There were nineteen donkeys illegally brought into the UK in September 2011, from who knows where - Ireland, Romania, Croatia, Spain... Unfortunately, Animal Welfare got involved too late and we were sadly unable to save them all. However, we embarkedon the rescue of two, which, over the course of a few days, grew to six donkeys!

Six very worried, bemused, frightened and thin donkeys arrived. Two bigger girls (to be named Tabitha and Tammy) a smaller girl, Jewel, one mum and foal, Daisy and Danny, and one foal on his own, Freddie. Tammy could not walk after she had had her feet brutally chopped with a hammer and chisel, she lay down permanently for seven days - we were extremely concerned about her.

We did not realise when they arrived that Freddie’s mum was not amongst them – he was very agitated, not interested in any food and kept going to the door of the barn looking for ‘something’. All day and all through the night the poor little chap cried and it wasn’t until we saw him trying to suckle from Tabitha that we realised she was not his mum. How distressing for Freddie.

We just could not accept this heart-breaking predicament - we had to do something to find his mum… and we did (long story)! His mum arrived, utterly emaciated, but Freddie was overjoyed to see her, as was his mum (Pearl) to see him and there were tears from all of us! Rewards such as this are... well, priceless… The pictures below show when they were reunited - they have been inseparable ever since!

September 2014...​Freshfields Donkeys arrive from the Peak District

"22nd September and the final four donkeys arrived - We are delighted to welcome the Freshfields donkeys from the Michael Elliott trust in to Flicka. Three separate journeys brought twenty five donkeys to Cornwall. It was not known until the last minute if five very elderly donkeys (in their 40's) would be making the journey - we are happy to say they did and traveled really well. Below are a few pictures of the arrivals. Thank you to the Paul O'Grady for his invaluable help in getting the Freshfields donkeys down to Cornwall. What a truly, lovely kind man!"

A statement from the Michael Elliot Trust:"The directors of the Michael Elliott trust regret to announce that Freshfields Donkey Village will close on 6th September 2014. The donkeys will be transferred to the Flicka Foundation, based in Cornwall.The founders of the charity, John and Annie Stirling have worked tirelessly for 28 years in making the charity so successful in helping thousands of special needs children and caring for over 600 neglected and abused donkeys. The Stirlings are now well beyond normal retirement age and are unable to face another harsh winter in this remote part of the Peak District. Without their selfless contribution as unpaid managers of the charity, the operation at Freshfields cannot continue. John and Annie have chosen the Flicka Foundation to care for their donkeys and to continue their invaluable work.Founded in 1995, the Flicka Foundation mirrors the work of the Michael Elliott trust in rescuing neglected and abused donkeys and horses and helping disadvantaged children and adults. The Foundation is based in the beautiful countryside of Penryn, Cornwall.We are delighted to report that June Brown MBE, Dame Judi Dench, Martin Shaw, Jenny Seagrove and Hayley Mills have pledged to continue their patronage and will join Caroline Quentin, Paul O’Grady and Felicity Kendal who are already patrons of the Flicka Foundation.John and Annie, together with the trustees, are immensely grateful to those who have sponsored our donkeys or made other donations to the charity. After the sale of Freshfields, the balance of those donations will go to the Flicka Foundation to continue to support our donkeys. Anybody wishing to continue to sponsor one of our donkeys can continue to do so through the Flicka Foundation.We owe a huge debt of thanks to the many volunteers without whom the success of this charity would not have been possible. Their friendship and generosity will live long in our memories.On behalf of the Patrons and Trustees (past and present) of the Michael Elliott Trust, we should like to express our sincere gratitude to John and Annie Stirling whose vision, dedication and generosity has enriched the lives of so many donkeys, children and adults. It has been a remarkable journey and we are proud to have been part of it".